Ouat Rose Parade
by Altariaclaws
Summary: Captainswan:DThe Sea Splashes Cruise ship has a float for the 2014 Rose Parade, and five of the people who work on the ship get to ride on the float. Killian Jones,Emma Swan, Ariel, Peter, and Henry prepare to go and welcome the New Year by dressing up in costumes and riding on their Neverland float.
1. Playing dress up

Emma put in her favorite purple tinted diamond earrings, and looked at her bright reflection in the stage mirror. With a pirate outfit on, sword and all, with gold eye shadow and mascara, she looked awesome for the Rose Parade. Her outfit was off the shoulders, white pirate clothe, and night black breeches with a sword strapped to her left waist, and black boots. She grinned, and tossed her curled hair a couple of times to make her look complete.

"Well, it seems that the outfits certainly fit our personalities, love."

Emma saw in her mirror Killian, and she whipped around. He was completely clad in black leather, with tons of guyliner on, a usual cocky smirk, and a hook on his left hand. The costumes designers _definitely _made him look like a pirate with no trouble. His partner smirked with disbelief, "Captain Hook? _That's _who they chose you to be?"

The dark haired Irish grinned, and replied, surveying her up and down, "And it seems like you're the pirate lass." Emma had a slight blush on her face, and she tried rapidly to cover it up. Killian turned when he heard the manager, Leroy call out with a slight edge to his voice. "Come on guys! The parade starts in a couple of minutes!"

Okay, maybe _a lot_ of edge.

Killian grabbed her hand, and pulled her through the entrance of the small star rooms where people got ready for the parade, and Emma shot him a look. Still holding on to her hand, he led the way to the angry manager, and he bowed comically, "Sorry your Liege. Grabbing other pirates for the voyage." Leroy didn't bother acknowledging his joke, and Ariel, whose actual name _was_ Ariel, hurried up in a mystical aqua color for her skirt, and a purple bikini top, attaching last minute accessories.

"Not too shabby love." Killian said to her, raising his eyebrows devilishly, and Emma eyed them with a slight edge of unknown discomfort. Like someone was rubbing her the wrong way. Shaking her head, she cleared her head and vaguely noted that Captain Hook was still holding her hand. But she suddenly lost the urge to pry it away from his.

"Now get in a line. Killian, act like yourself, Ariel, mermaid hotness, and Emma, act like, a swan maiden."

Emma gave him a confused look, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Leroy just lost his temper slightly, and gave her the shout tone, "I don't know! Just Act like one!"

All three of the dressed up young people jerked their heads back, and Leroy yelled down the hallway, "HENRY GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" The owner of _Sea Splashes Cruise _son ran over, dressed like a part of the crew, with his brown hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail and a tunic on. Emma stifled a laugh.

"Hey, sir. Sorry, I was just trying to get Peter into his boots. They are _really _hard to get on!" Leroy had a look of rage on his face as he stalked away towards the dressing room, and Emma gave a smile to Henry, who stood next to them in single file line. "Hey kid." He grinned at her, and a little sparkle formed in his eyes when he saw her holding the pirate's hand. She gave him the look of _bugger off_, and he snapped his head forward again.

Leroy came later with a look of satisfaction and a lanky teenager, who limped on his left foot as he took steps towards his other fellow mascots. The gruff manager shoved him next to Ariel, and walked off to check on the float. Emma whispered loudly, tuning to the dirty blond-haired teenager, who was wincing as he tested his weight on his foot, "What did he do, nail it into your foot?" Peter grimaced in pain, and replied to the other four mascots interested looks, "Might as well. He just comes in and yanks the dang thing onto my foot and gives me the usual yelling lecture. I bet a real Peter Pan wouldn't take that crap."

Killian smirked, and Emma just gave the boy a sympathetic look. Henry looked guilty as he said, "Sorry, Peter. I kinda told him that you were having trouble with your boot." The lanky teen shot the eleven year old boy a glare and snarled, "Henry, what's the rule?" The young boy hung his head, and replied, downcast. "Don't ask, don't tell." Peter snapped, "And don't forget it."

Ariel glanced at him with a parent look, "Hey, no need to be so harsh. Everyone forgets the rule sometimes. Remember when you accidently told Boss that Killian was talking to his brother before we went to serve at the party on that one cruise, and he smashed his phone into a wall?" The dressed up teen smiled guiltily as the pirate glared at him, and replied, "Oh, yeah. That." But with another wince he added on with more hostility, "but you try having Mr. Grumpy shove hard to get on boot on your foot."

Speaking of Leroy, he walked in with his trademark grumpy face and snarled at them hurriedly, "Go up on the float! The parade is starting! Limpy, you act magical, and Rich boy, hardy crew like. Now GO!" They clambered up the stairs to the main floor, and walked into the street with their Neverland float.

A jungle made out of stems and leaves of roses, and the boat was made out of deep orange roses. The sea was a flock of blue and lavender roses, and Emma grinned at how beautiful and pirate like the float was. Killian was still gripping her hand, and he smirked at the float, "Well, it certainly is better than the last time we saw it." The workers of the cruise ship had seen it have covered with the roses, not fully complete. Now it stood awesomely in front of them. Henry gave a little whoop.

"Well, come on! Let's get on that baby!" The young adults grinned, and Peter limped up on it, checking the view of the tree that he got to sit in. "Not too bad." He observed, and Henry ran to sit on a patch of leaves and stems. "Ouch!" He cried, and leaped up, clutching his butt and legs, which had an unbearable amount of thorns on them. Peter gave a snort of laughter, and Emma said with realization, "They didn't take the thorns off of the stems. Seriously?!"

Ariel, who was sitting on the rock made out of pinkish white roses, glance up at Emma and Killian, and Henry who was trying to pull all of the thorns out of his pants. "Well, at least you guys don't have to sit in them. Henry too." The boy clambered into the boat with the _Sea Splashes _flag over it, wincing painfully as he sat down and jumped back up again. Leroy went in front of the float, and Peter yelled down to him in an amused voice, "Hey Leroy! You forgot to take the thorns out!" The grumpy manager snarled at him, "You'll address me as either Boss or sir, unless you want another limp."

That shut Peter up and he just glared at the mean manager. "Now, you!" He yelled, and pointing at Killian, shouted, "Put your foot up on the hull of the boat, like you're actually sailing somewhere. No, the left. No, my left! PUT YOUR FOOT ON MY LEFT!" The pirate finally got the position right, and Leroy went on to lecture yelling Peter, who looked like he wanted to tackle the yelling manager like a football player.

"Well, it's just like another day on the boat, aye Lass?" Killian said amusedly, using the dialogue that he did even without the pirate costume. Emma nodded and grinned at the scene of Peter boiling mad at Mr. Grumpy, who threw his hat on the ground and clambered up on the pirate ship, stalking over to the supposed Peter Pan and yanked him into the right position. Then he jumped out of the float and gave a smile that said, _finally the brats got it right!_ Then, with a mean look, yelled over his shoulder, "Get the float ready to sail, Clark!" Then, turning back to the crew, snarled, "Don't make our ship look bad. Got it?!" The mascots nodded, and Killian muttered under his breath audibly, "Yes, _dwarf_." Emma gave a laugh, and the float jerked forward, sending Ariel at the front almost falling off her rock, along with Peter in the tree. Then, it started to go forward more smoothly after stopping short, and the crew grinned when they saw the crowd in the stands and on the side of the road, along with the small tower with the news people that made jokes and told facts about the parade. 2014 was broadcasting along the screen below them, and it was plastered across the floats.

_They'll faint when they see what are float does. _Emma thought with satisfaction, and suddenly gripped Killian's hand harder when it was their turn to go, and she heard the announcers say, "Well, if it isn't the _Sea Splashes Cruise_! I took a trip on it with my wife, and we loved it!" She heard Hoda reply to Al, "Yes, it is very beautiful! But where is the 2014?" Emma grinned nervously at the pirate captain, and he smirked back at her. Suddenly, a loud boom rang in everyone's ears as fireworks shot up in the air, and it said, _2014 Happy New Year!_ The crowds went crazy, and their cheers were loud and explosive as they snapped pictures and jumped up and down with excitement. All of the crew members grinned at each other, and Henry gave a yell of happiness along with Peter.

Then something unexpected happened.

Killian put his knee down, and pulled Emma towards him, kissing her.

She widened her eyes in surprise, and about 4 seconds later he pulled away, grinning with his dashing smile, still holding her. Emma couldn't breathe for the next couple of seconds, trying to calm her racing brain as she stared into his sea blue eyes, and sparks from the fireworks gently came down, making it feel like a dream. "That wasn't so bad, was it love?"

Emma's face unknowingly pulled into a small smile, and she whispered, "Nope."


	2. Car Troubles and Lanky Pirates

Emma yawned as the car moved steadily on the highway, Henry's DS light casting a glow onto all of them. Ariel was in the very back of the van, snoring softly, and Peter had called shotgun next to Leroy, who was grumpily driving them back to Florida, to the cruise ship, all the way from Pasadena, California.

Back from the Rose Parade.

Emma had a chill run up her back when she thought about what had happened there, and every time she looked at Killian, who had acted like nothing had happened. That was really annoying and relieving at the same time for Emma, because of what everyone might do if they, _bonded_.

So there they were, driving back all bunched together. They had rock paper scissor to see who could get the back three seats and sleep, and the "mermaid" had won.

Henry, on Emma's left, was furiously typing on his DS, and Killian, who was on her right, was resting his head against the window, peering outside the dark window. Normally, she actually didn't mind long road trips, but the pirate lass was pooped.

Suddenly, the car started making a series of random noises, like spluttering and popping.

Henry jerked his head up, and asked, "What was that? Is the car dying?" Killian lifted his head off of the window, studying the confused look on the manager's face.

Leroy pulled over on the side of the highway and turned off the car for a moment, and Emma held her breath anxiously. Then he turned the keys again, and the car didn't make a sound or blink a light. The manager let out a string of curses, and Killian snapped, "Not in front of the boy!"

Leroy whipped around, and with his eyes weary and angry, he snarled at the dark-haired Irish, "Well, unless a tow truck comes soon, we're gonna be spending the night here." Emma's mouth dropped open, and Peter face palmed himself.

Ariel's soft breathing still was asleep as the angry manager got out of the car and into the warm air of New Mexico and opened up the back of the van.

Not caring if he woke Ariel, Boss got about two or three soft blankets and threw it at the tired crew. Emma threw one back to the sleeping red head, and gave one to Peter. Taking the biggest of all, she noticed that there were only three. "You guys mind sharing one big one?" She asked the kid and pirate, and turned a shade of pink when Killian grinned.

Henry nodded, and shut his DS, curling up next to Emma. She spread it on all of them, aware of Killian's eyes on her. If Leroy wasn't such a person for napping, they would have had to sleep in the car with each other anyway, but, the mean short adult was.

"I'll keep watch for a tow truck, you guys catch some winks." And he settled down angrily in the driver's seat as Peter's snores rang threw the van. Leaning her head back, Henry's soft breathing lulled the blond haired lass to sleep.

* * *

Blinking her eyes slowly, Emma woke up to the sound of a running car engine, and the gentle feeling of moving in a car. She let her brain doze a little and stare at the seat back in front of her. _Seat back?_ Emma whipped her head up from Killian's lap, pushing slightly against a snoring Henry as she sat up.

The pirate smirked at her, his blue eyes amused at her sudden reaction. She eyed him hastily and glanced back at Henry, who was leaning against her with all of the huge blanket. But Killian wasn't finished with the sudden movement, and he asked lowly with a laugh, "Embarrassed Swan?"

She blinked a couple of times, feeling her face grow red and hot, and didn't respond. Leroy gave a big yawn and sighed heavily, "Well, we're in Texas. I'm gonna stop at a McDonald's. And if you're wondering how the car got fixed, I repaired it with my bare hands. A little mechanic problem, nothing I couldn't handle."

Emma rolled her eyes and felt her stomach rumble hungrily at the McDonald's part, looking out at the desert area before them. An hour or two later, Ariel, Peter, and Henry finally woke up, and Ariel yawned, "How long was I out?" Emma snorted with laughter, "Long enough that you could've been under a sleeping curse."

Henry added on with enthusiasm, "And then you would need true love's kiss to wake up." The eleven year old had a book of fairy tales on the ship, and he loved the book more than anything. "Yep." Emma replied, and leaned her head back on the headrest, not aware of sea blue eyes on her.

Mr. Grumpy stopped at the McDonald's and he ordered each of them an egg mc muffin and hot cocoa. Swan gulped hers down hungrily, and started drinking her cocoa. Then she snapped her head back up, "Almost forgot!"

everyone glanced at her as she fumbled through her duffel bag until she found a metal tin. Opening it up, she got a pinch of cinnamon and sprinkled her cocoa with it. Peter half rolled his eyes, and said, "You carry a tin of cinnamon with you wherever you go?" The blond narrowed her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Hey, you gotta make it feel like home, don't yah?" Henry held his cup out excitedly to her. "Me next please!"

* * *

Emma asked, sleepy, "So, are we going to stay in an inn, Boss?" He nodded, weariness clouding in his eyes. They pulled over at an Americinn, and they all shuffled out of the van, holding their duffle bags and started walking towards the inn.

"One room please," he ordered the front desk lady, and she eyed all of the travelers with him, especially the ladies and kid. Killian spoke up to the woman with a charming grin, "We're all family. This is my wife, sons, and uh, father and mother." Emma literally had to pinch herself from letting out a bang of laughter, because Leroy was at least 10 years older than Ariel.

"Right!" said the woman, and her black pixie cut swung as she pulled up some room cards and handed them to the big "family".

They went up in the elevator, and once they were inside, Henry, Ariel, Emma, and Peter started laughing like crazy, and Killian joined in as Leroy just gruffly stood there, glaring at the dashing lanky young adult who was still wearing his costume, but just took off the coat.

When they found their room, everyone claimed their spot quickly. "I call a bed!" Henry cried, leaping onto one of the soft white beds with his duffle bag thrown on the floor. Him, Peter, and Leroy started arguing about who slept where, and the young adults just dropped their stuff on the floor and crashed down on the two armchairs and one desk chair.

"Finally, rest!" Killian groaned, tilting his head up toward the ceiling.

"Fine, fine! But you guys are going to call the desk to get us a cot!" The two boys cheered, and Peter dialed up the pixie cut lady quickly in his British accent, "Hey may we please have a roll bed or something like that? Thanks."

And him and Henry plopped down on the right bed, taking out their electronics and charging them, and then having a crazy pillow fight. Even Emma, Killian and Ariel joined in, and they jumped between the three beds, and Leroy just snored on a chair.

"Take that pirate!" henry cried and flung a pillow at Killian. The leather clad pirate dodged, and threw a good fluffy one at the boy's face, and his laugh was muffled with the pillow as Ariel got him from behind.

Peter and Emma were in a rapid war, and one of Henry's pillows knocked her down, and she hit the bed on her back. Suddenly, Ariel shoved Captain Hook out of her way as she went after Peter Pan, and he ended up right above Emma, with both of his hands on either side of her. Swan's face turned the red of her leather jacket, and he scrambled up quickly, letting her up.

After a good ten more minutes, everyone was out of breath, and Henry was already asleep on the bed next to Peter, who was resting, sweat beading on his forehead. Ariel said breathlessly, "okay, I'm going to change first." And she changed into a nightgown and fell asleep in the cot.

Emma peeled off her jacket, and suddenly realized something. Peter was dozing next to Henry, Ariel was asleep, and Leroy was pretty much knocked out on the chair. Only Killian was awake, and he eyed her discomfort of, well, him. "I-I promise Swan." He stammered unexpectedly, and she bit her lip and finally laid down beside him on the bed.

She stared forward, letting the darkness shroud her as Killian turned off the lamp. His gentle breathing lulled her to sleep, and Emma could feel his hand close around hers in the darkness before she drifted off.


	3. My past's a deathtrap

Sunlight peered out through the closed curtains, barely shining into the dark hotel room as the four adults and two kids snored, content with their dreams. Only Emma was shuddering, terrible nightmares wracking through her brain.

_A snarling black wolf cornered Emma, and her back hit the cave wall behind her. She glanced rapidly around, trying to look for a way out, but it was hopeless. Was this how she was going to die? Cornered by some dog in a random cave? Emma shut her eyes tightly and waited for a painful death grip to come, but another growl came from her right side. A shining wolf had emerged, lashing his tail and snapping at the other predator. Somehow, the scared blond could hear what it was saying. "Get out! Let the present do its work, you filthy piece of scum!" The black wolf snarled back with rage, and a cunning gleam in its eyes, "The past will follow her everywhere, never leaving her side. All the pain will only well up, and she will never be free of my presence." The golden wolf eyes glowed with anger, and it leaped at the black wolf, claws extended for death._

Emma sat up suddenly in bed, her eyes wide with terror. What had _that_ been all about?

Two wolves, golden and black, snarling at each other about the past and future. _The past and future_.

Emma breathed deeply, strangely understanding what it had been all about. _They were arguing about _my _past. My future._ She shut her eyes tightly, shoving the feeling of crying away.

Her past was the most terrible thing that had happened to her, before she joined the cruise three years ago. Being abandoned, raised in the system, and that one guy. Neil. The one who she had loved had left her, just like all the others.

A single tear dripped down her face, and she quickly brushed it away, throwing herself back on the bed next to Killian.

He breathed calmly beside her, and she felt her heart beat at the thought of the parade for the billionth time. Taking a sweeping glance, she raked her gaze to her right and left, over the pirate's body and onto Peter, Henry, Ariel, and Leroy. Through the storms at sea, to the good times in the gift shop that Ariel and Emma ran, with Peter serving people drinks and food, Henry running around, Leroy yelling at them, and Killian being a pain in the butt with his good readings on all of them, along with the sea.

Maybe all the people she loved _hadn't _abandoned her.

* * *

Killian blinked his eyes open to the sound of Emma's voice.

She was still next to him, muttering things that he couldn't understand. He, with his eyes barely open, turned back around towards her, and he saw the slightly worried and panicked look on her face, along with the deep cracks of a nightmare sketched in her eyes.

She blinked multiple times, and he could read the nightmare in her eyes slightly had something to do with him. He felt a small pang of guilt shoot through his chest, and he tried to hope that it wasn't anything that he did was bad. That kiss on the float had come to him, suddenly and violently, and before he could think about it, he jumped down and kissed her.

Ever since the first day he saw her, she had been a good friend, and they had found a lot of themselves in each other, as kindred spirits. Now he wasn't so sure what to think, and Killian knew it wasn't fair to her to pretend like nothing had happened, but he was just too worried that she didn't feel the same for him. He would never forget the day before the Rose Parade, when he had found a ripped in two wanted sheet that had shone some guy with the name of Neil Cassidy.

It didn't take much brains to know that they had been in love, and something had happened. The day when he found it on the floor by the garbage can in the gift shop, Emma had a little dull spark of hurt in her eyes, and she had had it during the Rose Parade, even though the blond knew how to keep it covered from everyone else.

But Killian.

It what had caused him to leap down and kiss her, trying to erase the pain that the other man had left, trying to get her to forget the pain. And he couldn't tell if it had worked, but he prayed and prayed that she wasn't mad at him for trying to make her forget Neil.

"Love?"

Emma whipped her head at him, staring at him with a voice of pain in her green eyes. "Yeah?" she whispered back, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, but he could see right through it. He tried his charming smirk, and said with a touch of concern in his voice, "Bad dream?"

Killian instantly regretted giving her a smirk, and he could tell that her walls were closed now, and she wouldn't tell him anything. "Naw. Just the thought of you next to me." She glared at him, and he now was _deeply_ regretting, with the thought ringing in his head. _Where did that come from?_

The pretty blond swung her legs off of the bed, and put on her boots and coat. "Lass-," he said suddenly, swinging off the bed and went in front of her, blocking her from leaving. She folded her arms and gave him another hot glare, "What?"

Killian's mind raced to think of something to say, and he just ended up kissing her.

This one wasn't like the last one, with its magical and clear force, but instead it was hot and angry. Emma pulled back, and shooting him a look that he couldn't read, but could tell that it was between frustration and a sense of mistrust, walked out, slightly slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Peter blinked open his eyes, and groaned, turning over and glanced at the blinking clock. 6:00. Groaning again, he sat up carefully, trying to not wake up his friend, and questioned what the slam that had woke him up had been caused by. Turning his head, he got his answer.

Killian was grimly staring at the floor, not doing anything, and his eyes were tinted with a slight bit of anger. "What's up with you?" Peter asked, a smirk on his face, and it was wiped off as he noticed that Emma was gone. "Where's Emma?" he asked, with less teasing in his voice.

The Irish gave him an unhappy, slightly angry look, "You just answered your own question." The teenager blinked at him with a little bit of teasing again, and thought it couldn't be anything too bad,

"What did she do to make you angry?"

The pirate got up abruptly. "She didn't make me angry." He hissed, and a warning emotion was burning in his blue eyes, along with something that Peter couldn't read. The teen knew that they had kissed on the float, and it amused him, but it wasn't Killian to be so angry and worried.

"I'll go look for her." Peter replied, slightly scared at the unusual emotions on his friend's face. He got up, and walked towards the door cautiously, as if he was worried that the pirate was going to punch him or something.

The tall lanky teenager slipped out the door, and walked down the hallway and to the elevator, punching in the button for the restaurant. It slid open coolly, and there, sitting at the bar, was Emma, glaring at the counter with the rum in front of her. Peter walked up to her, and sat down on the stool beside her, making her jump at his sudden presence.

"What?!" she snapped, and it was the second uncharacteristic thing that he noticed about his friends today.

"I was just wondering where you were," he gestured toward the drink, "Rum huh? Killian's favorite." The boy wanted to slap his hand over his mouth as he saw the searing look that Emma shot at him.

"Yeah. Go away." she snarled, and downed the rest of the hard drink. Peter blinked his eyes a couple of times, and responded to her hostility, "What _is_ up with you and him? Kiss on the float, glances at each other, and now what? Dagger staring contest?"

Emma got up sharply, which reminded of how the dashing pirate had responded to his question. A flame of anger burned deeply in her green eyes, and stalked away, leaving the teen at the bar, thinking _what the heck?_

* * *

An hour later, they were all piled in the car, with a tension that was thick in the van. Killian stared out the window, not looking at Emma at all, and the blond doing the same thing on the right of Henry. "Well, we're off. Hang on, we're going home." Leroy announced, oblivious to the tension. Peter spoke up carefully, "What time do you think we'll make it home by?"

The manager replied with a look in the rearview mirror at the slightly unhappy bunch, and responded, "At least twelve in the night I guess. Ready to see the _Jolly Roger _again, crew?"

Emma and Killian both started to reply at the same time, and they both looked at each other, until Emma broke the contact and stared out the window.

Leroy, actually feeling a small tug of sympathy, said nothing as he started the van and drove out onto the highway.


	4. The Past Reborn

**A/N: I have no idea why I made Emma so angry in this chapter, or the last one, but let's just say she was caught in her past memories, so Storybrooke Emma made an appearance. XD**

Emma, Peter, Henry, Ariel, and Killian stared at the boat as they watched it float in the aqua waters. The night sky was a deep black with only a full moon to light up anything, and the tired crew was overjoyed to at last make it home.

"Race you!" Henry yelled enthusiastically to Peter, and the boys surged forward, laughing with excitement, and almost tripping over their feet as they sprinted to the ship. Ariel glanced at her best friend with a smile, but Emma only stared forward coldly, not even having a spark of a smile on her face.

Killian spoke up after a moment as Ariel's smile fell flat, "Glad to be home lasses?"

"You bet!" The red head responded with a slight tint of happiness, and the dark-haired pirate glanced at Emma from the corner of his eye, then sighed and walked towards the ship. The blond only reacted to the outside world after her friend touched her shoulder, "Emma, I don't know what this is about, but it has got to stop. Even Henry hasn't cheered you up in the past day!"

The blond finally looked at her with a dead expression, her eyes blurring with tears. She spoke up softly, "Ariel, I kissed Killian. I _kissed _him. After everything, I just let myself hope that someone would love me. After _everything_." Ariel winced at the way her friend exclaimed how people would love her, and she replied back indignantly, "Emma, we all love you here. Even Leroy, when he's not yelling his butt off at us. You have to understand that you can let yourself be loved. Even after," The mermaid cleared her throat, "_Neil._" Ariel pulled her in for a hug, and then let go, saying with a cautious smile, "Now let's go home. At least try to be happy for Henry and Peter's sake, not to mention Leroy's, otherwise he may yell at you."

Emma cracked a small smile and let her friend lead her towards the ship, and as they walked through the doors, they were showered with confetti.

"SURPRISE!" Tons of people yelled as they walked through, and the two friends blinked their eyes at the amount of employees who were showering thornless roses on them. Killian and Peter were standing farther away, studying their expressions at the surprise that was given to them as well. Henry laughed loudly at Emma's loud, "What the heck?!" as he was held by his smiling parents, Robin and Regina.

Jiminy, one of the water aerobics teachers came up to them with his goofy looking smile and exclaimed with a burst of happiness, "Wow, you guys were amazing at on the float, and you looked amazing too! Killian, I especially loved the total guyliner _pirate_ look." The Irish waved his hand, smirking. The super chipper teacher continued on lowly as everyone talked and laughed to the now –walking- in Leroy, Peter, Killian, and Henry, "I saw you two kiss! Everyone knew that he would have to stop all his innuendoes and actually pick someone!"

Emma's face drained of the color, but she still barely managed to pull off the blushing look. Ariel grinned for a second at the red haired man, and then quickly pulled Emma to the side, saying loudly, "Well guys, we can talk in the morning, but right now we're gonna hit the sack." Peter nodded in agreement, looking super tired with his weary eyes.

The four of them, not including Henry, who had gone off with his parents, trudged to their cabins, and Emma muttered, 'Night' and then slipped into her cabin after getting a sympathetic look from Ariel, a curious one from Peter, and a studying one from Killian. She walked forward into her small room, breathing a silent breath of relief from everyone else and tossing her duffel bag on the floor next to her small bed.

"Really love, you need to actually _pretend_ that you're not avoiding me."

The blond whipped her head around to see the smirking pirate leaning on her door, and she actually allowed herself to look into his sea blue gaze for more than a second. Folding her arms, she sighed loudly, and he stepped forward, close enough that Emma could feel his breath on her face. "Honestly, are you _that_ mad at me?"

She could feel her brain clog with memories of Neil, and she said distantly, "I just can't trust you. You're a pirate for pete's sake."

He shot her a dashing grin, "Darling, that was for the parade."

Emma gave him a searing look, and responded in a cold tone, "No, you flirt with everyone around you. How do I know you won't promise me something and then run away with someone else?" Her words had hidden meaning, and she saw a flicker of sadness pass through his eyes as he looked away for a split second, and then refocused on her. "Really, what made you so untrusting all of a sudden?"

A part of the blond clicked, telling her that with the way his eyes darkened and burned, he was telling some sort of lie. No, _asking_ a lie. "He left me. We had a watched each other's back for years, and he just left me for some slinky lady named Tamara. Leaving me of course, to go to jail for our crimes. He told the police where I was when he was sneaking out watches, and sent me a letter in jail that said, "Sorry. I fell in love w/ someone else. No choice but to tell. I left you the car and some cash. And I never saw him again." Emma could see in his sea blue eyes that he knew about the man she was talking about, and a bright flame of love and sympathy burned within them.

The pirate lifted his chin slightly, and asked defiantly, "Do you really think that I'd leave you?"

Suddenly, Emma's heart sped up a little faster, and she stammered out without her sudden confidence, "I-I can't take the chance. Never again."

Seeing that he had made a small crack in her wall, Killian took it, and snapped, "There is no _chance_. I wouldn't leave you, unless it was your will. You've seen the dark side of human nature my swan, and it's time you see the good."

Emma felt the barest hint of trust as she looked at the honest look on his face, and she searched for a lie and found nothing but a steady flame of fierce hope burn in his eyes. Hope that she would trust him, even though he knew how hard it was for her.

"Okay."

* * *

"Okay ladies, stretch those arms! Make sure their nice and loose for today's exercises!"

Emma sat in one of the white swimming chairs on the concrete next to the indoor pool, which was filled with elderly ladies with swimming weights, and had an amused/doubtful look on her face as she watched Jiminy lead the ladies in his chipper tone. God, this was painful.

Henry came bouncing up to her, holding extra swim weights in his arms, and she said to him in a sarcastic tone, "I feel for you kid, your parents assigning you to this job. Did Killian get knocked out for the billionth time, or Peter not feel like having you serve food with him?"

The kid gave her a grin, and replied, "Well, Killian was taking a captain test today, and Pan got sick this morning after, so I was assigned here." He nodded towards the clipboard on her lap, asking, "What're you doing?" Emma grimaced, and responded, "I'm taking notes on this. Ariel insisted that we should make some guides to water aerobics, so I get stuck jotting down strokes and exercises." Henry laughed at her expression, and he chirped cheerfully, "Well, I'll see you later. I've got to get the kickboards after I drop these off."

He bounced off, and Emma wondered what Peter was sick with. He hadn't been sick or pale that morning, considering that they all ate breakfast together. But, the teen _had_ mopped up some puke after some kid got sick. Great, now he probably had the flu. A sudden excuse popped up in Emma's head to _finally_ leave the class, even though she had been there for five minutes. After writing a couple of moves, the blond waved bye to Jiminy and Henry, and walked out the door, free from the humid swimming pool air. She went through the royal like hallways, and zipped through the lobby to get to Peter's cabin.

"Hey, Emma!"

The blond stopped in her tracks as Robin signaled for her to come over to the desk, where he was working for a sick receptionist. He motioned towards a lady with black hair and dark skin when Emma got over, and said in a cheerful tone, "Do you mind if you wait with Ms. Cassidy for a second while I go help someone?" Emma responded back, "Sure!" She turned her attention to the lady after Robin walked away hurriedly, and the mocha colored skin lady explained, "My husbands in the bathroom, he should be out in a moment. We're here for our honeymoon." The gift shop runner smiled and replied, "That's awesome! Congratulations!" The lady flashed her a grin full of white teeth as she bent down to rifle through her suitcase, until a man came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders, saying, "Ready to hit the room?"

Emma's breath caught in her throat.

It was _Neil._


	5. The stars ship it

**A/N: Yes! I finally got the dumb paragraph separation lines in there!**

Emma stared into those hazel eyes, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to crumple to the ground. What_ was he doing here?!_

"Excuse me." The blond choked, brushing past them and through the lobby and almost hitting people, racing towards the bustling gift shop. She burst in through the back entrance, and Ariel turned around after greeting a costumer. The red head had a smile on her face as she turned, "What, were water aerobics that bad?" She stopped when she saw the look on her friend's face. "Emma, what's wrong?"

With her green eyes filled with bad surprise and sadness, she snapped, "Neil. Is. In. The. Lobby."

Ariel's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she grabbed Emma's arm, "What?!"

Her friend was too angry and sad to respond, and suddenly she picked up the vase of fresh orchids and threw them at the wall as hard as she could. The loud breaking sound roused the costumer from the display of key chains, and he jumped up, his eyes wide with surprise. Seeing as her friend was too busy to say sorry, Ariel did It for her, and led her out of the gift shop and onto the warm wood of the ship. The red head tried to calm Emma down, telling her that it was going to be alright as long as she stayed out of Neil's way when a strong Irish accent floated over,

"What's going on?"

Emma whipped around in the Monday sunlight to see Killian walking over, still in black breeches and a leather torso, and gosh, still with guyliner on.

He repeated the question as he got closer, and Ariel blurted out, "I thought you had a captain's test this morning." The pirate studied Emma curiously, and replied to the mermaid without looking at her, "Aye lass. But I finished it. Now what's going on?" His love just stared at the ground blankly, thousands of memories flashing in front of her eyes like bullets, and as much as she like to dodge them, Emma got hit every time. Ariel hissed to Killian, "Neil is here."

The pirate eyes widened, and he growled back, "What?!"

Ariel just realized that Emma probably just left Neil in the lobby, and she quickly snapped at him, "Stay here, I'm going to go check where he is." The red head raced down the deck, leaving Killian to comfort his love, and she went into the lobby, seeing a man that looked like the one in the wanted poster, and a dark skinned lady. Trying to make herself look presentable and not like she wanted to run him over, the mermaid walked over and said to their confused look and astounded look, "Can I help you?"

Neil asked in a soft voice, "Was that Emma?" Well, no more playing games now.

Ariel slightly snapped back, "Yeah. I'm guessing you're Neil?" The lady that was Tamara looked at her husband with a confused look, asking in a curious voice, "Who is Emma?" The stocky man looked panicked as he stuttered back, "An ex-girlfriend." The blond's friend gritted her teeth and thought, _Oh, she was much more than that, _but just settled for glaring at the anxious man and saying in his ear, "Stay out of her way. She's tried to put you behind her, but you'll always haunt her. Enjoy your new life, _criminal_."

With that, the employee walked away towards the deck.

* * *

Peter shifted in bed, his stomach panging with pain as he moved. He winced, and took a long sip of the vanilla milkshake that Henry had brought him from the restaurant. It slid down his throat, nice and cold. Peter realized that when you were sick, you noticed lots of stuff in the outside world, like today it was a sunny Monday morning with puffy clouds dotting the eggshell blue sky and seagulls flapping lazily in the salty breeze. Today was a chock full day at the restaurant, where the teen could've got lots of tips. He sighed, but then jumped as his door was thrown open by Emma, Killian, and Ariel, who each looked in order, sad, angry, and comforting.

The teen tilted his head at them, "What's up?"

Emma looked like she legit wanted to punch something, and Killian snapped, "It's complicated." Ariel closed her eyes and shook her head to herself, then reopened them and asked in her kind voice, "How're you feeling?" The dirty blond haired teen shook his head, still curious about what was going on, "Still pretty bad. Now what's happening? Emma, why do you look like you want to go beat something up?" She snarled at Killian, "Would you look at that, he's inheriting your skills on reading us." And the pirate glanced at her before looking back to Peter, who edged farther into the wall in his bed, as if scared that she was going to punch him, and replied, "Nothing that concerns you. We just came to check up on you lad. Now do you mind if we stay here a bit?" The teen sat up, wincing as he did, and replied, "Sure, you might get sick though. But I forgot to ask, how did your captains test go?" The pirate grinned, despite the saddened look on his love's face, and responded, "Good, I knew everything on it."

Peter motioned for them to sit in the bunk beds across from his bunk. Ariel sat on the bottom, while Emma leaned her back on the cabin wall on the top, and Killian settled next to her, taking out his secret rum flask that no one except Emma, Ariel, Peter, and Henry knew about and offered it to her. She took it with a nod of gratitude and drank a swig, closing her eyes as Ariel started rifling through Peter's collection of books and things, who was commenting on things. "Who's this?" the mermaid asked to Peter, holding up a picture of him and a girl with a sweet smile and blond brown hair. The teen stuttered, his face turning a shade of bright red, "Uh, Gr-Grace. She's a friend from back home." Emma gave a dry laugh as he stuttered, and commented without any trace of Neil for the first time that day, "Yeah, just friends. We'll believe that when Leroy becomes nice." Her friend looked through the shoebox that he had, and not meaning to embarrass him explained, "There's a bunch of pictures of her and you in here. Is she your girlfriend?" Peter's face turned a deep shade of crimson as he fell back with a sigh, "Yeah. I miss her when I'm here, but at least I still get to see her when we dock. Me and her father, well, let's just say that he hates my guts, even though that's an understatement."

Ariel slid the pictures back in of them getting ice cream, playing with a black lab, and sitting together on a park bench, and she muttered, "At least you have the chance to see her." Peter raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What do you mean by that?" The mermaid snapped her head up, as if unaware that she said it out loud, and replied, "I-I just, I had a friend named Eric, but he went off to war a long time ago." The sick teen snorted, and used Emma's line, "Yeah, just friends. We'll believe that when Killian takes off his guyliner." The pirate exclaimed, "Hey!", and Ariel blushed. Peter grinned, and he thought in his head, _Well, I guess the Rose Parade's sharing all our secrets._

* * *

About a day later, Killian and Ariel finally got Emma to actually get out of her cabin, and they played ping pong. What could they say, they were kids in evolved form. As Ariel kept score, the two slapped the ball back and forth as hard as they could, occasionally sending loud bangs across the room and laughing.

Leroy walked in as Emma and Ariel were on the floor laughing their heads off as Killian apologized sheepishly to a guy who was a bodybuilder about ten times his height that he had hit in the head with the ball. The man glared at him hard, and surprisingly walked away without knocking the pirate's head off. Leroy marched over to where they were all laughing hard, and yelled, "What the heck are you guys doing! This isn't your day off!" Killian held up a finger as he laughed, "Wait, wait just a sec mate….."

The angry manager barked, "NO! GET UP NOW!" The young adults got up, still stifling laughs as he glared at them with burning stone gray eyes and snapped and pointed at them in order, from Killian to Emma to Ariel, "You will clean out the bathrooms." The dark haired man grimaced, "You will go play tennis with a couple that needs an opponent," The blond haired lady sighed, "And you will go tend to Peter." The red haired lady shrugged. Leroy stalked away angrily, leaving the three to do their chores, and Ariel said first, "Well, sorry guys. At least mine isn't too bad. See ya later." She went out of the rec room and Killian smiled at Emma with sarcasm, "Well lass, I get the lovely job of the bathrooms. Good luck in the tennis tournament." He winked at her, and headed towards the cleaning closet with a groan, which Emma laughed to before going to the courts. At least her spirits were up again.

* * *

Loud music thumped through the air, playing "Animals" by Martin Garrix, and flashing lights danced everywhere on the floor. Emma drank two fingers of whisky while Killian just downed his rum. Ariel had a strawberry daiquiri as she chatted with the two, and stopped abruptly as Neil slid in next to Emma.

Oh gosh, this was gonna get bad fast.

Killian stiffened as the man asked his love in a low whisper, "Hey, can we talk?" Emma glared at him, and snapped, "Won't your fiancé be angry?" The thief winced, and continued in a low and defeated tone, "Look, I didn't know that you'd be in Tallahasse-," But his former partner cut him off in a cold tone, "I don't care what you knew or didn't. Go away and leave me alone forever, or I'll turn you in to the police, _thief_." She got up and walked away, and Killian and Ariel followed, with the pirate shooting a glare at him. Next thing anyone knew, Neil was punching him in the face. He jerked his face back, still standing firmly in his place, and muttered 'bloody hell', wiping his lip of any blood. Emma was in his place in the fight in an instant as she marched in front of him and slashed her fist across Neil's face, snarling, "What is your _problem?!_" He rubbed his jaw, looking up stubbornly at her through half lidded eyes.

Ariel grabbed Killian and Emma, who looked on fire as she glared at her ex-boyfriend partner, and led them away through the crowds until they were outside on the deck, under the starry sky with the sliver of moon. She peered at Killian's face, who had bruise in between his eye and lip, and muttered, "I'm going to find a first aid kit. If any of you move an inch to go back, I'll personally get Leroy to murder you…." As she stalked off hurriedly, leaving the pirate and swan together alone.

Emma wasn't going to cry, but she felt herself brush one tear off her cheek as she looked at the bruise that Killian had, and half of the tear was pure anger, that she knew. Neil just waltzes back into her life after betraying her to jail, getting married, and then punching her boyfriend in the face. She was going to murder him the next time she saw him.

"How is it?" she asked softly, watching the moonlight cast a glow into his sea blue eyes. He grinned at her, a spark of humor in his eyes, "I'm alright love. Your ex-partner might be having a good bruise tomorrow after the way you punched him." The blond retorted coldly, "Good. He deserved it. I don't even know what his deal is! I'm sorry that he randomly punched you." Killian smirked at her, wincing slightly and said, "It wasn't your fault love. But perhaps gratitude is in order now..." Emma studied his hopeful smirking expression before leaning forward and kissing him under the stars. The pirate's face burned with pain, but it felt like nothing now.

Stars glittered down, gazing at them with their silver light.


	6. Rainstorms and Pizza

**A/N: Warning-slightly fluffy, but just some extra awesomeness :D I also made adjustments to the last paragraph of the last chapter :)**

Emma and Ariel both were chatting to costumers as they checked out the happy and shiny souvenirs, and the kids yipped excitedly about the fish in the tank, how they looked like the ones off of _Finding Nemo_.

Rain pattered outside the super small gift shop, and lightning flashed across the sky in white blue laces, making the dark gray clouds light up and rumble with thunder.

There definitely wasn't a lot of people outside on the deck, and when there was, they hurried inside the gift shop or ran across the deck quickly.

Everyone was inside their cabins today, including Peter, who had the flu, and was puking a lot.

"Hey Emma! Hi Ariel!" Emma turned to see Henry running cheerfully through the back door, with an umbrella and wet Killian behind him. She couldn't help stifling a laugh at the way the kid was perfectly dry and the pirate was soaked as they came up behind the counter with the two girls.

"Hey kid! Shouldn't you be returning to school in a day or two?" Henry grimaced, sitting on the counter by the endless packs of hot chocolate and green tea that Emma and Ariel had stocked up on, and replied, "Yeah. But who cares? I'll ace the welcome back pop quizzes that mom throws my way."

Henry was homeschooled by his mom, who took his education _very_ seriously. Like, the fourth grader was doing seventh grade work. He got the reward though of being on his favorite place in the whole world, the cruise ship.

Running around and talking to passengers, while learning about sailing the ship from Killian, and making certain food plates with Peter and the cooks. The kid was lucky.

Killian grabbed a towel and began drying his hair, which literally looked like it had been dunked in a bath, and shot a glare at Henry, saying, "Maybe next time you'll share the umbrella lad."

The kid gave him an accusing smile, and cried, "You said you wanted to race! And I won because I wasn't soaking wet. Some of us actually plan for the weather, unlike others."

He shot a glance at the smiling pirate, and the two girls were grinning.

The four kept talking, and Ariel and Emma sold a huge bunch of their goods to some girls. At first they weren't interested, but when Killian shot a wink at them, they agreed with a fit of giggles.

The pirate now realized that that may have made Emma feel angry, and he glanced at her worriedly, but her and Ariel were laughing with relief as thunder boomed outside.

"Finally we got rid of those stupid ugly sweaters!"

Emma, Killian, Ariel, and Henry were walking down the bright hallways towards Peter's room for lunch, chatting and holding food. Habits never changed, and the crew always ate lunch, breakfast, and dinner with each other.

They each knew each other's favorites for everything, from drinks to meals. Emma and Henry preferred hot chocolate with cinnamon, Killian his rum, Ariel_ loved_ her green tea, and Peter drank at least 3 Red Bulls a day.

"Hey Peter! We brought lunch!" Henry chirped to his friend, throwing him some sushi in box.

The teen caught it, turned off his phone and mumbled out a greeting through his full mouth. Ariel laughed, "Wow, hungry much?"

Emma settled on her usual spot on the top bunk, and Killian the same on her right, Henry just sitting across on the top bunk across from them, and Ariel settling on the bottom bunk.

As the friends started laughing at a joke, the lights suddenly went off as a huge bolt of lightning laced across the sky.

Henry whimpered, the little boy hating the dark, and Emma grabbed Killian's hand.

They waited quietly until Peter blinked on his phone, its light illuminating the room as a flash of lightning boomed through the sky, and the teenager said quietly, "Well, I guess it's not a little storm after all."

Henry looked out the window, and turned back with fright in his eyes, "That's never happened before!"

Ariel gave him a soothing smile and soothed, "It'll be alright. Your parents will turn on the emergency lights."

Emma could feel Killian breathing beside her, and she saw the sarcasm in his eyes as he responded to the comforting, "Yeah, unless those got fried too."

Henry got this terrified look in his green eyes as Peter shot a glare at the pirate, saying, "Relax, we'll be fine. Just a couple of hours without light. Mind as well eat."

The five ate, with a couple of jokes that fell flat as another volley of lightning erupted in the sky, sending more sheets of rain clapping on the circular window.

Emma's phone buzzed as she read the text : _Do u hav Henry w/ u?_ From Regina, and she replied back _yep_.

The blond looked up from her phone and realized that Peter was talking. "We should tell scary stories!" But Henry shook his head hurriedly, and responded with even more enthusiasm, "Wait, we should make up stories! Like my book, only twisted. Little Red Riding Hood could be the wolf, Mulan should be in love with Philip and stuck in a love triangle with him and Aurora, Snow White could've actually been a sassy survival princess who hits charming with a rock….." He jumped up excitedly, Peter agreed immediately, and so there they were.

They started the story with the Evil Queen, and their story built up on it. Piles and piles of stories were added, along with characters that were insanely evil, and others that were good to the grave.

It continued on for hours, all of them liking the game of making up twists and couples such as Rumplestilskin and Belle, and making some bad guys be good.

They had Peter Pan be evil, (much to Peter's delight) and Captain Hook be actually named Killian Jones until Rumplestilskin cut off his hand.

Ariel helped Snow escape the Evil Queen, but lost her chance at true love because of it.

Emma was Snow and Charming's daughter, and the savior of the curse, which transported them to a different world entirely, much to Emma's "I can't be the savior! Why can't Ariel?" But they added it in anyway.

Henry was her child in the mountain of stories, and they even went into the curse land. Emma was a lady who didn't trust anyone, and had come to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine for her son.

They ran through the plot, until the gang had gone to Neverland to rescue Henry.

"We should have Captain Hook fall in love with you! Than him and Bae can fight it out."

Henry waved his fists in the air, pretending to punch Peter, who added on with lots of excitement for an eighteen year old, "Yeah! They could be what those people call on the internet, uh, come on, oh yeah! Ships! Swanfire and Captain Swan!"

Emma felt her face pale even more as the kids named the exact things that were pretty much going down on the cruise ship. At least they had just called him Bae instead of somehow naming him Neil, and they didn't go into Emma and Bae's past at all.

Killian spotted the look on her face and tried to spawn a joke with his accent, "I'm sure I would love that. Especially after being alone for 300 years with nothing but Smee and me crew for company."

The boys added it in excitedly as the pirate said lowly to his swan, "Okay love?"

She blinked a couple of times and nodded, then asked for his flask, and he handed it to her, studying the slightly sad look in her eyes as the boys chattered happily in the background. Another huge crack of lightning thundered, but the crew was so used to the sound that they didn't even blink.

Ariel then checked her phone and said, "Guys, we've been in here for _five hours._ I love the story, but Henry your mom is probably wondering where you are. Let's hit the deck."

Peter and Henry both exclaimed, Aww! At the same time, and Emma glanced at her with an unbelieving look on her face.

Suddenly the intercom cackled with life, making the five jump as Robin's friendly voice boomed, "Hey passengers! Sorry for the inconvenience of lights, but everything got fried. The storm looks like it won't be calming anytime soon, and we have even rougher waves ahead. So, for your safety, I'd like everyone to stay in their rooms for the night, due to sliding objects or falling. If anyone needs any food, just dial 515-228-115, and I will send someone. Thank you for your cooperation."

The five friends looked at each other, but Henry broke the silence

"I call a bed!"

* * *

About an hour later, the five companions were all tucked in blankets, and talked, staring up at the ceiling as they occasionally bumped with the ship.

Killian was on the floor, Emma was on the top bunk of the left pair, and Henry was sitting up below her. Ariel slept above Peter, who didn't have to move at all from his resting position.

A deathly pair of lightning bolts pounded through the sky, lacing through heavy sheets of rain and sending a loud boom of thunder rattling the windows.

Henry gave a barest noise of a whimper, and Ariel soothed him. Peter looked down annoyingly from his phone, which he was checking the time on, and complained, "Why do you always have to whimper like a kicked puppy? It's just lightning."

Ariel looked down on him from her bunk, mouthing with wide eyes, "_Shut up. Can't you see that he's scared?_" Peter just gave an irritated sigh and turned off his phone, which read, 6:00, and added on, "And it's too early to go to bed."

Thunder rumbled as Killian snorted from the blankets on the floor, "Who said we were going to bed? You need more attention span."

Peter gave another sigh as he picked up Killian's flask from his short stool by his bed and tossed it at his floor bound friend, replying with his sick weariness, "Have a drink, _mate. _We all know it calms you down."

The pirate gave him a glance and took his advice, taking a long and generous swig, making Emma smile.

Then the blond's phone buzzed, causing her to give a groan when she read the text message from Henry's chipper dad.

_Hey Ems, do u mind delivering a pizza to a couple on the fourth floor room 309? Pick it up Basil's. Thx_

Emma tossed her phone on the floor, instantly remembering that her boyfriend was down there when she heard a curse. She peered down, and giving Killian a guilty grin apologized, "Sorry! I honestly forgot you were down there."

He peered back up at her, with one eye closed and replied with a dramatic, "SWAN! Why must you harm my beautiful face?!"

She laughed, and flipped her feet over the bunk bed, landing on the floor. The blond haired woman replied to everyone's gazes on her with, "Boss man asked me to deliver a pizza to some couple on the fourth floor. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Killian instantly volunteered, a grin on his face as he clambered up, saying, "I'll come too. I need to refill my rum as it is anyway."

Emma nodded, while Peter glanced at him with an accusing/confused look and queried, "But it's full."

The pirate swung his flask, hearing the abundant amount of rum in it, and then downed it all. "What are you talking about lad?"

Emma laughed, and her and Killian walked from the small cabin, slightly stumbling when the ship rocked in the waves. At one wave, the blond "savior" tripped sideways, causing her to ram into Killian and pound them both into the wall together. The pirate grunted as he and Emma hit the cream colored walls hard, and thunder boomed through the air.

"Sorry! I don't know how we're supposed to deliver a pizza in this storm." Emma grumbled as she clambered up, and Killian replied with a grin, "Don't sweat it milady. I've had worse things with you."

She shot him a smirk as she remembered the time when they were repainting Ariel's cabin (to aqua blue), and the blond had to go out to Home Depot to get the paint in the time that they had while they were docked. While she was pulling out fast with Leroy's van with Henry and Peter, she _hit him with the car. _Poor Killian was stuck in the hospital for three days from broken ribs, and Leroy had yelled at her for possibly scratching the van(!?)

As the two finally came to Basil's, which had a battery powered microwave for emergencies, and they finally got the pizza.

Killian licked his lips at the smell, and Emma realized that they didn't eat dinner.

"You think they'll mind if we have one slice? Or two, for that matter." The pirate asked, reaching for the box as thunder rumbled. Emma pulled it away from him, retorting, "Oh, they definitely wouldn't. NOT."

The dark-haired Irish pouted, half smirking as they showed up at the room, and Emma knocked on the door, stifling a laugh as the door opened.

Her laugh fell dead in her throat.

Neil peeked from behind the doorway, his brown eyes wavering for a second as he saw his ex-girlfriend, but hardening into anger as he saw the now protective Killian. Emma could practically see the curses flashing in front of her boyfriend's eyes as she shoved the box towards Neil.

"Pizza delivery, for room 309."

The stocky man narrowed his eyes at the box in his hands, and he murmured, "What, did you poison it or something?"

Emma leaned in more towards Killian and muttered audibly to both men, "Only you would say that." Then speaking louder she responded, "Why don't you eat it and find out?"

She turned around, and left Killian to follow her, which he did, shooting a _my girlfriend will snap you like a twig _look to Neil and walking after his swan.

* * *

Emma lay in the bed, looking up at the ceiling, as lightning lit up the snored filled room. After eating pizza, Henry had hit the sack at 8:00, Peter stayed up till 12 with Killian and Emma, while Ariel crashed at about 10:00. Now it was two, and the blond had another nightmare with the wolves. This one wasn't as bad, but certainly not the most inspiring thing to cross her head.

The golden wolf had been towering above the black wolf, who was seriously injured, covered with scars that gushed blood onto the cave floor. Its red eyes were shadowed with pain, and despite its evilness, Emma couldn't help feeling sorry for it as it whimpered on the floor.

As the lightning crackled through the sky, a brilliant flash of light followed, illuminating the swan's friends. Killian breathed quietly, Ariel surprisingly snored, Peter was breathing fast and Henry just mumbled stuff about the savior and fairy tales.

Emma smiled, and she fell asleep once more to the now familiar pattern of lightning and rain.


End file.
